What We Can Learn by How Jesus Approached the Pharisees
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- Published Nov 21, 2022
I can remember as a child singing the song “I Just Want to be a Sheep” in elementary school chapel services. In particular there was a line from the song, “I don’t wanna be a Pharisee ‘Cause they’re not fair, you see.’” Today, as we dive into a study on the Pharisees encountering Jesus, I pray that we will be open minded and humble hearted in our own lives to see how Jesus approached the religious rulers in His time on earth. Today we will look at what we can learn by how Jesus approached the Pharisees.
Jesus Cared about the Heart
Have you ever met someone who has to be completely put together at all times? She can’t leave the house without hair and make up perfect. He can’t go anywhere without his special watch and fancy wallet. She cannot post a social media picture that is not ultra-edited to her liking. This is the kind of mentality that the Pharisees had. Although they cared about the law of God, they appeared outwardly clean, and they were put together, their hearts were not pure and motives were often revealed by Jesus.
There are Pharisees that we see Jesus genuinely cared for and tried to share the hope which He brought. (I.e. Nicodemus) Jesus did not hide that He had something better, it was just that the Pharisees had become hard-hearted and closed off to His message.
Jesus says in Matthew 23:27-28, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”
Maybe you have known Christ for a while now, perhaps you serve in leadership positions at your church, maybe you are a pastor or an elder, or you simply have had a lot of opportunities in front of others in faith. The question we need to ask of ourselves is how are our own hearts doing? It is easy to point the finger at the Pharisees until we realize that we too live like them. If we are not careful, we can judge others harshly, think too highly of ourselves, or do religious acts to gain favor or applause from others. We might look like we have it all together at church or in Christian circles, but in reality are dead and unclean on the inside.
In Matthew 15:8-9 Jesus again address the heart issue. “‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’”
Jesus cares about our hearts. We can serve Him, obey Him, and talk about Him all day long, but if our hearts are not drawing near to Him, then all we do is in vain.
Jesus Had Bigger Fish to Fry
I am going to be honest that I have gotten hung up on theologies before as a believer in Christ. It is by no means a bad thing to have opinions on Biblical interpretations, however it is an area where I see the enemy at work to divide and distract the church. Jesus had bigger fish to fry than the Pharisees’ petty arguments and attacks. They were always trying to catch Jesus saying or doing something unlawful to humiliate Him. However, it always backfired.
One time, they even found a woman in the act of adultery and tried to get Jesus to stone her. He said that whoever had not sinned could throw the first stone. John 8:7 “When they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and said to them, ‘The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.’”
Of course they all left and He remained as the sinless Savior. He did not stone the woman, He freed her and asked her to repent from her sin. (John 8) This act of the Pharisees revealed that they cared more about “being right” or “making a point” than about the people in front of them.
Jesus loved the world. He loved the people. He healed the sick, taught about God, and dined with those who Pharisees would not be associated with. I learned this lesson when I was working with international students. The vast need for just the love of Jesus and the gospel was so great, all of the other theological issues seemed to matter less for the sake that these individuals could know Christ and be in heaven one day.
Jesus never said that the law did not matter, in fact He came to fulfill the law and He lived it perfectly. However, He was creating a new covenant through His death and resurrection of grace and forgiveness. The Pharisees greatly missed out on this gift because they were so obsessed with the rules. May our knowing Christ never keep us from going out and sharing His gospel of love to those around us. May our familiarity with the gospel never breed rabbit trails of lesser things to focus on.
Jesus Always Had a Response
When the Pharisees attacked Jesus trying to stump Him, He always had a response. It was particularly common to answer a question with a question back in the culture and time. They questioned Him about the greatest commandment and He responded perfectly, love God and love others to fulfill all the commands. (Matthew 22:34-40) They questioned Him about marriage in heaven (Luke 20:34-36), divorce (Matthew 19:1-11), His authority (Luke 20:1-8), taxes (Mark 12:13-17), and David calling the Christ Lord (Luke 20:41-44)
Jesus was kind enough to acknowledge them, even though they were out to get Him and He owed them nothing. We see such grace in the fact the He cared enough to tell them the hard truths and respond. Jesus always gave the Pharisees something to think about. Just when they thought they got him trapped, He always had a perfect answer.
I hope and pray that after Jesus’ death and resurrection Pharisees eyes were opened to the gospel. Sometimes we have hard questions for God too and He can handle them. We may not always like the answers, but the point is that the Pharisees did not have teachable spirits. May we pray for hearts that are softened to God’s Spirit and open minds to following Him and His truths.
Photo credit: Ben White/Unsplash.com
